Music

Funeral For A Friend talk touring the UK, 2015 festival plans and van playlists

Funeral For A Friend are currently touring the UK in support of their new record, Chapter and Verses. We caught up with guitarist Gav Burrough to find out how everything was going on the road. Er, just don’t expect any van sing-alongs…

Hi Gav, how’re you feeling about the UK tour?

“Positive, it’s going to be good. Last year was pretty sparse gig wise, I think we only did 10 or 15 shows, because we recorded the new album later on in the year. So we were all eager to get back out.

“We’ve been touring for such a long time now, when you go to places like London, Manchester and Glasgow, it doesn’t feel like you’re somewhere that different because you’ve been there so many times. That’s probably the thing I look forward to; going back to these places which are familiar but not you’re home.”

Do you still feel the buzz from playing live?”

“It’s different; you have got to be honest with yourself when you grow up and you’ve been doing the same thing for a while. It’s no less enjoyable, if anything, it’s sometimes more enjoyable now because you know your limits and what you need to do. No drinking every night like we used to, everything in moderation! It’s the best job in the world so it’s nothing to moan about.”

What’re you listening to on the tour bus right now?

“To be honest, we hardly play music in the van! We all have our headphones on because we’d be arguing straight away. We’ve all got such different tastes. Today I’ve been playing Angus and Julia Stone – I like chilled-out music and folk, then I can get angry when I need to play a show.”

Funeral For A Friend - Pencil Pusher

How much touring will you be doing to support the new record?

“We’re just holding out to see what festivals we’ll be doing but I’m sure we’ll do a few UK ones. We’re off to Australia and Europe just before the summer, so we’re going to be busy.”

You’re no strangers to the festival scene either, any stand out memories that stick in your mind?

“We were playing Reading Festival in 2009 – we were really stoked to go on stage and just as we walked on, it started to absolutely hammer it down. I found it quite funny for the first song; I was just soaking wet. Then all of a sudden you could hear electrical explosions and then everything just went quiet. There was no sound whatsoever and we just stood there like a bunch of plumbs. Eventually they got the power back on, the sun came out and it was happy ever after. For ten minutes though, I thought it was the worst moment of my life!”

Funeral For A Friend are currently touring the UK with support from Creeper and No Bragging Rights. Get remaining tickets before they go.

Caught FFAF on this tour? Don’t forget to share your snaps at @TicketmasterUK.